Ontario Premier Doug Ford confirmed on Wednesday that Canada’s most populous province would be heading into its second stay-at-home order and third state of emergency as COVID-19 variants of concern continue to spread. Catherine Cullen, senior reporter for CBC News, sits in for Rosie this week and joins Elamin in examining how efforts in several provinces still tend to be reactive versus proactive, and may not reach the “middle ground” that premiers like Alberta’s Jason Kenney often strive to find.

The two also turn their attention to the NDP as the party prepares for its policy convention this weekend. After a year in which the Liberals served up some big policy responses to the pandemic, which would normally be considered the territory of the left — take the CERB, for example — where can the NDP stake their claim as an election looms on the horizon?